BRINGING down a stone wall and crushing several motor-bikes a 38-tonnes articulated juggernaut overturned on the bridge at Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, on Tuesday afternoon and came to rest on an 11,000-volt electrical transformer. Firemen and police were quickly on the scene and roads were sealed off while the difficult situation was assessed.

The bikes had been parked outside a local paper company.

The driver of the vehicle, not a local man, was lucky to escape unharmed.

Eye-witnesses said the vehicle had only been travelling slowly when the accident happened. It seemed the vehicle's load of baled paper on the curtain-sided leviathan had shifted.

Crowds turned out to view the massive vehicle until a heavy vehicle recovery service righted it and removed it.

Local businessman Peter Allen of I.S.M Waste Disposal could not carry on business as usual because of the blockage but found employment in unloading the bales and delivering them to their destination, Fort Sterling at Stubbins.

Initially it was thought electricity supplies would have to be cu but NORWEB switched supplies from another transformer allowing businesses, homes and shops in the area to carry on as normal.

A spokesman for NORWEB said yesterday that he did not expect any interruption of electricity supplies.

Following an initial inspection the damage to the transformer, he explained, appeared to be minimal.

Further inspections of the transformer were being carried out but the electricity board were not anticipating any problems.

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